| 04 September 2009
Before tonight's disaster of a game in Chicago, the Red Sox were three games up on the Rangers for the wild card spot.
But Paul Byrd didn't have any more magic left in his arm and Junichi Tazawa proved that he just isn't ready to be a major league starter.
Meanwhile, those pesky Rangers beat the Orioles and the Angels were losing 1-0 in the 8th to the Royals. They just aren't going away and I'm starting to see them as this year's Tampa Bay Rays.
The Angels have a tough September ahead of them with games agains Boston and New York and six games against the Rangers who are currently just 3.5 games back in the AL West.
For most of this season, it seemed like a forgone conclusion that if we earned that wild card spot, we be facing the Halos again in the ALDS. But the Rangers could steal the division and we may have a very intersting 3-team race in the last week of the season.
The question is.. who would we rather face in the playoffs?
The Red Sox have not faired well against either squad, posting a 2-4 record againt the Angels and a 2-7 record against the Rangers. We'll get one last look at the Halos later this month at Fenway Park, but to be honest, both teams scare me.
The Angels added Sox killer Scott Kazmir and their staff and he could be the No. 3 behind John Lackey and Jered Weaver... Joe Saunders is also in the mix. The Halos also have one of the leagues best offenses, lead by Kendry Morales, Vladdy, Chone Figgins and Torii Hunter - among others.
In the past the Angels needed to beg for runs and hope their starters went deep in the game. Now they have offense, pitching and a solid closer.
But the Rangers have been solid as well. The question is... can they keep it up in September? Micheal Young is hurt, Josh Hamilton is a shell of his 2008 self and after that Ian Kinsler is the only scary guy with a bat. And the starters are a collection of no-names, lead by Scott Feldman and Kevin Milwood. Can these guys really win a playoff series?
Bottom Line: Texas is not as talented as the Rays were in 2008, but they aren't going away. When push comes to shove, I think I'll be routing for them to overthrow Los Angeles in the West because the Angles look dangerous this year.
But what do you guys think?
I'll be discussing this on CSN's The Baseball Show on Saturday morning, so tune in a 9:00AM EST.
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